Kolkata: The Cooch Behar airport may relapse into a mothballed existence if it doesn't find any investor to upgrade the facility. Three years ago, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) spent Rs 40 crore to make the airport operational. But less than 30 flights flew in and from the airport since then.
Not only have operators shied away from the airport, passenger count has been hardly encouraging. Steep fare failed to find takers in the sleepy town that was once a buzzing capital of a princely state. Fares will go down only if operators can fly in with bigger planes. For that, the runway has to be longer. This needs an investment of Rs 25-30 crore, which the cash-strapped AAI is unwilling to commit.
At present, the length of the runway is 1,150 metre. To operate big planes like ATRs, the runway length needs to be 1,555 metre. ATRs can operate at Cooch Behar even now but they will carry a huge load penalty that will allow only 20 passengers on board. The ATR-42 can carry 48 passengers while the ATR-72 is a 72-seater aircraft. Currently, only 20-seater aircraft can take off from Cooch Behar.
21/03/12 Subhro Niyogi/Times of India
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